1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telecommunications, and more particularly pertains to a method and apparatus for sending recorded telephonic messages.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Voice messaging systems are known and used for sending and receiving messages between users that are Subscribers of the system. A xe2x80x9cSubscriberxe2x80x9d is a person that has actively subscribed to the voice messaging system by creating either (1) a voice mailbox and/or (2) a billing relationship with the provider where the Subscriber agrees to pay money, either directly or indirectly through the purchase of other services, for use of the voice messaging system.
A voice mailbox is a storage area within the voice messaging system that is addressable by a number. The number selected to address the voice mailbox may be any number, such a number coinciding with the Subscriber""s telephone number. The voice mailboxes of prior art voice messaging systems are quite difficult to access and require that the subscriber both (1) periodically call into the system to determine if there are any messages in the mailbox, and (2) call into the system to listen to messages. Most people, however, already have separate voicemail systems or answering machines that answer the telephone and record messages from live callers. As such, these prior art voice messaging systems create yet another mailbox that both senders and/or receivers must check in addition to their existing answering machine or separate voicemail system.
Examples of a subscriber billing relationship include, but are not limited to, a monthly subscription fee, the purchase of related or unrelated services such as local telephone calling or long distance calling, or the outright purchase of a voice messaging system (hardware or software) through either an installment sale or single payment. It is through these and other types of billing relationships, or by creating a mailbox as described above, that people actively subscribe to become Subscribers to prior art messaging systems.
After actively subscribing to the voice messaging service and/or creating a separate mailbox, a Subscriber can send and receive messages with other Subscribers by calling into the system, logging into the particular mailbox and then creating and sending messages to mailboxes of other Subscribers within the same voice messaging system.
An exemplary mode of operation of a prior art voice messaging system is shown in flow chart form in FIG. 1. To record and send a message, a Subscriber, having already actively subscribed to the service, places a telephone call into the voice messaging system at step 10. The Subscriber then signs-in to his voice mailbox at step 20, records a voice message at step 30, and enters a telephone number of an intended recipient at step 40. At step 50, the voice messaging service determines if the intended recipient is a Subscriber or not. If the recipient is a Subscriber, the voice messaging system deposits the voice message in the recipient""s voice mailbox at step 60. The intended recipient can thereafter call into the voice messaging system and access the voice message at step 70. If, however, the intended recipient is a non-Subscriber, the voice messaging service will call the Recipient and play the recorded message as shown at step 80.
Examples of conventional voice messaging methods and systems are disclosed in at least the following patents, all of which are herein incorporated by reference: U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,791 entitled xe2x80x9cVoice-messaging System with Non-user Outcalling and Auto-provisioning Capabilities,xe2x80x9d U.S. Pat. No. 5,764,732 entitled xe2x80x9cCalled Party Mailbox Service,xe2x80x9d and U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,272 entitled xe2x80x9cPersonal Voice Mail System.xe2x80x9d
Although widely accepted for commercial use, prior art voice messaging systems have had only moderate success in the residential market. Telephone companies have expended tremendous effort to market prior art voice messaging systems to the general public. Numerous television and radio advertisements have been aired to teach consumers that they can use these systems to not just answer calls, but to send, receive, reply, and forward voice messages, and to broadcast a single voice message to multiple recipients. Nevertheless, such voice messaging systems are not widely used among residential customers.
One reason voice messaging systems are not widely used among residential customers is that many residential customers already use existing stand-alone answering machines and have no need or interest in maintaining a separate voice mailbox, as noted above. Another reason is prior art voice messaging systems will only send messages from a Subscriber of the voice messaging systems and do not allow a non-Subscriber to send a voice message to a non-Subscriber.
Further, prior art voice messaging systems require that a Subscriber dial into the system to retrieve messages; they do not work with a Subscriber""s existing answering machine. Instead, they require that a sender of a message to a Subscriber of the voice message system (such as a Recipient who replies to the Sender""s original message) deposit the message in the Subscriber""s voice mailbox. The Subscriber must then call into the voice messaging system to (1) check to see if there are any messages in the voice mailbox, and (2) listen to the messages, if there are any. As such, a sender of a message cannot be sure when the Subscriber will (1) notice that a new message is present within his voice mailbox, and (2) listen to the message. Only when the Subscriber has completed both of these steps will the Subscriber receive the Sender""s information. Further, prior art voice messaging systems are not designed to work with existing answering machines and voicemail systems of non-subscribers on a regular basis without soliciting the Recipient who is a non-Subscriber to become a Subscriber.
Because of these and other limitations, including the small number of residential voice messaging system users, the utility of existing voice messaging systems is quite low. As such, it can be appreciated that further improvements are needed in such a system.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a voice messaging delivery method and system in which neither the Sender nor the Recipient of a voice message is required to be a Subscriber.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a voice messaging delivery method and system in which an initial voice message can be sent from a Sender to a Recipient; and a reply to that initial voice message can be sent from the Recipient back to the Sender without either the Sender or Recipient being a Subscriber to the voice messaging system.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a voice messaging delivery method and system in which an initial voice message can be sent by a telephone call to a Recipient""s existing answering machine that is not part of the voice messaging delivery system; and a reply to the initial voice message can be sent by a telephone call to a Sender""s existing answering machine that is not part of the voice messaging delivery system.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a voice messaging delivery method and system in which messages are immediately delivered to a Recipient or Reply-Recipient (the original Sender who receives a reply message) to (1) immediately notify the Recipient or Reply-Recipient of the existence of the message, and (2) immediately allow the Recipient or Reply-Recipient to hear the message.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a voice messaging delivery method and system that can be supported by advertising messages such that a company providing a service according to the present invention can do so in a commercially reasonable and sustainable fashion without requiring either the Sender or Recipient to be Subscribers to the system or establish a billing relationship with the company.
A voice messaging delivery method and system according to the present invention provides a means for delivering voice messages from a Sender to a Receiver, where neither the Sender nor the Receiver are required to be Subscribers to the system. The invention allows voice messages to be delivered to non-Subscribers and, if they are not home, to be recorded into the existing answering machine or voicemail system of the Recipient (including an original Sender who is the Recipient of a reply message). Advertisements played during either the process of sending or receiving a message provide revenue for a company providing the service of the present invention without requiring users to become Subscribers.
This brief description sets forth rather broadly the more important features of the present invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contributions to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will be for the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining a preferred embodiment of the invention in detail, it is understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the method set forth in the following description. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood, that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for designing other methods and systems for carrying out the objects and purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.